Former Parish Priests of St. Peter & Paul's, Wakefield

The first parish priest of St. Peter & Paul's was Fr. Cornelius Finn.  He died on the evening of 6th August 2007 in retirement,  the oldest priest in the Diocese. It was just a few days before his ninety-second birthday. He and his twin brother Dean were from a well-known family of Hemsworth.

Both developed, at an early age, a vocation for the priesthood, Con for the Diocese and Dean as a missionary priest, with the Holy Ghost Fathers, for which he was ordained priest in 1939. The brothers received their Secondary education at St. Michael’s College, Leeds, after which Con went to philosophy school at Mount Melleray Abbey, Waterford, in Ireland. He moved to the Leeds Seminary and Ushaw to complete his Theology and was ordained at Leeds Cathedral by Bishop Poskitt on 31st March 1940.

His first appointment was curate at St. William’s, Bradford where he remained for eight years, before spending one year at St. Catherine’s, Sheffield and then three years with Canon Hudson at Holy Rood, Barnsley. This was followed by a year at St. Nicholas, on the Gipton until in the summer of 1954, Bishop Heenan appointed him as Parish Priest to the newly established Parish of SS. Peter and Paul at Sandal, Wakefield. This was a large area to the South of the City stretching almost to the Barnsley boundary. In July 1960 Father Finn built and opened a large chapel-of-ease at Kettlethorpe, replacing an older building at Crigglestone. The new Church seated 280 people. He remained at Sandal until 1968 when he moved to Our Lady and All Saints, Otley. Here he served the people of Otley for twenty more years, until he retired in 1987 then he took up residence in Otley. He remained remarkably active until not long before his death when he moved into residential care. He will be remembered with affection with many of the older priests in both Leeds and Hallam Diocese, and he was the last priest of the Diocese to be educated at the Old Leeds Seminary.  

Father W Benedict McCabe was parish priest here from 1968 to 1970.  He died on 6th August 1981, aged 67. He was born in Wrekenton, Co. Durham, on 16th April 1914, but as a child his family moved and settled in Doncaster. After leaving school he worked for a time for the London North Eastern Railway and was in his mid-twenties before he began his studies for the priesthood at St. Cuthbert’s College, Durham. He was ordained priest at St. Anne’s, Cathedral, Leeds, on 28th April 1946 with three fellow students from Ushaw. His first appointment was as curate at the Sacred Heart, Sheffield, where he remained for six years, and then in 1952 moved to St. Patrick’s, Leeds. After a further five years there he went to St. Clare’s, Bradford. In 1962 Bishop Dwyer appointed him parish priest of the Blessed English Martyrs, Askern. Whilst he was there he acquired the presbytery at Askern for the priest, who until this time had resided at Burghwallis Hall. In 1968 he moved to SS. Peter and Paul, Wakefield, but after only two years became parish priest of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Leeds. In August 1976 he moved to St. Gerard’s, Featherstone, where he remained until his death. Despite failing health in recent years, Father McCabe maintained his characteristic cheerfulness which always endeared him to those he met. He was a kind and sympathetic priest who will be long remembered with affection in the parishes where he served. His diocesan Requiem Mass was celebrated at St. Gerard’s, Featherstone on 11th August 1981 and the burial was at Killingbeck Catholic Cemetery.

Father Andrew Daly was parish priest here from 1971 to 1979. He became a priest of the Hallam Diocese, but for many years was a priest of the Leeds Diocese He died in Claremont Hospital, Sheffield on 3rd March 1989 aged 65. He was born in Ireland and educated at All Hallows’ College, Drumcondra, Dublin. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Leeds on 19th June, 1949 and came to Leeds in the following September and was sent as curate to St. Theresa’s, Crossgates. After three years he went to the Sacred Heart, Sheffield, and then served for a time at both St. Joseph’s, Handsworth and St. Mary’s, Batley.

In 1966 he was appointed parish priest of St. Thomas More, Chickenley, Dewsbury and in 1971 moved to SS. Peter & Paul’s, Sandal, Wakefield. After nearly nine years there he was appointed to St. Thomas More’s Sheffield where he remained until his death. In more recent years Father Daly had suffered frequent periods of ill health which he accepted with courage and patience, this was not easy as he had always been a tireless and assiduous priest in all the parishes in which he served and was responsible for a number of pastoral innovations over the years. His funeral took place at St. Thomas More’s, Sheffield.       

Father Leo Woodward was parish priest here from 1979 to 1986.  He died in Snaith Hall Nursing Home, Snaith on 4 April 2001. In latter months his health had deteriorated after a series of strokes. He was aged 82.

Father Woodward was born in Mirfield on 1 May 1918 of an Anglican family and at the age of 30 entered Ely Church of England Theological College but in 1954 he was received in to the Catholic Church. Within a short time he went to Oscott College to prepare for ordination for the Archdiocese of Birmingham. He was ordained priest in 1963 and served in parishes in Stourbridge, Wolverhampton and Birmingham itself. However, in 1972 he transferred to his native diocese of Leeds and was appointed curate in English Martyrs, York and St. Joseph’s, Bradford and was then given charge of St. Bernadette’s at Mixenden before moving to SS Peter & Paul's, Wakefield. In 1986 he went on loan to the parish of St. Thomas More, Sheldon, Birmingham but after three years returned home to the diocese to become parish priest of SS. Mary and Michael at Settle where he remained until his retirement in 1991.

Initially he went to live at Sheldon but in the summer of 1995 he took up residence at St. Mary’s, Carlton. Father Woodward had asked that his funeral be held at the Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall which accordingly took place on 10 April 2001 followed by burial at St. Stephen’s, Skipton.

Father Woodward will be remembered as a faithful and generous pastoral priest who was always zealous for the care for the churches where he served. 

Monsignor William Steele was our parish priest from 1986 to 1988.  Monsignor Steele sadly passed away on 3 August 2022. 

Mgr. Philip Holroyd was parish priest at St. Peter & Paul's from 1988 to 1995, he being the instigator of the new church here in Sandal.  Born in Bradford on 23rd October 1947, he  was educated at St. Bede’s Grammar School, Bradford and Ushaw College, Durham. He studied for the priesthood at the English College in Rome, in the years immediately after the Second Vatican Council, and was ordained in the church at the Venerabile on 12th December 1971. From 1972-74 Fr. Holroyd was an assistant priest at St. Joseph’s parish, in Handsworth, Sheffield. In 1974 he went to Oriel College, Oxford to study for a Masters in Philosophy. In 1976 [he] returned to Rome as Tutor in Philosophy at the English College and in 1979 he became the College’s Vice-Rector. In 1982 he was appointed a Chaplain of Honour by Pope St. John Paul II. In 1985 he took on the role of Chaplain and Administrator at the Villa Palazzola, the College’s summer villa on the shores of Lake Albana, outside Rome.

Mgr. Holroyd returned to the Diocese in 1988 when Bishop Konstant appointed him as Parish Priest of SS. Peter and Paul, Sandal. In 1995 he moved to Leeds to become Parish Priest of St. Urban’s in Headingley. It was to be a brief tenure as less than eighteen months later he became the first Director of the new Diocesan Pastoral and Conference Centre at Hinsley Hall.

In 2005 Mgr. Holroyd became the Parish priest of St. Theresa’s at Cross Gates in East Leeds. In 2013 he was appointed to St. Wilfrid’s, Ripon from where he retired owing to ill-health in the summer of 2018.

Mgr. Holroyd died on Friday 5th October 2018 at St. Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds.

Mgr. Holroyd’s legacy to the life of the Church, locally and further afield is a significant one and in large part a very tangible on. At the Venerabile he was responsible for the redevelopment of the Villa Palazzola which underpinned its emergence as a thriving retreat, conference and pilgrim centre in recent years. In the Leeds Diocese he will be remembered for overseeing the construction of the new church at SS. Peter and Paul, Sandal, completed in 1992, and, especially for the establishment of Hinsley Hall. Along with the late Austin Smith, the first General Manager of Hinsley Hall, he translated Bishop Konstant’s vision for a new diocesan pastoral centre into a successful reality in the years following its opening in 1999.

Father Peter Johnson was parish priest from 1995 to 1998.  Fr Peter sadly passed away in March 2021. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Canon Michael Mahady was parish priest between the years 1998 and 1999.  Canon Mahady is now the parish priest at SS John Fisher and Thomas More in Burley-in-Wharfedale.

Fr. Barrie Senior was parish priest here from 1999 to 2010.  He was born on 25th September 1934. His call to the priesthood came when he was in his middle years and having been accepted by Bishop Wheeler he went to the Beda College in Rome to begin his studies.

He was ordained at the age of fifty-four on 24th June 1989 at St. Joseph’s Church, Batley Carr. From 1989 to 1993 he was Assistant Priest at St. Anne’s, Keighley. In 1993 Bishop Konstant appointed him as Parish Priest of St. Brendan’s, Bradford where he remained until 1999. In that year he became the parish priest of SS. Peter and Paul, Sandal. He retired from Sandal in 2010 and since that time he had lived in Dewsbury.

After a short illness, he died late in the evening on Wednesday, 17th October, and after almost three decades of devoted priestly service to the Diocese of Leeds. The suddenness of his death was unexpected and will be the cause of great sadness to his family and friends, his brother priests and former parishioners. He will be remembered with great fondness by all who knew him. May he rest in peace.    

Father Nigel Polland was parish priest here from 2010 to 2015.  He is now parish priest of St Peter's, Belle Isle and St. Philips, Middleton.

Fr Simon Bradbury was parish priest from 2015 to 2021. He is now parish priest of St Robert's in Harrogate.
Assistant priests of this parish have included Fr John O'Hara, Fr. Bernard Duffy, Fr. John Carter, Mgr. David Kirkham, Mgr. Bernard Bickers, Fr John McMahon, Fr. John White, Fr. Tony Birkby, Fr. Chris Hepple, Fr. Anthony Fenton, Fr. Anthony Jackson, Fr. Thomas Rathappillil and Fr. Gregory Knowles.
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